Hands of the Cause
in the Holy Land meeting with the International Baha'i Council. From left: A.
Furutan, Charles Wolcott, William Sears, Leroy Ioas, Sylvia loas, lan Semple, John Ferraby, PauI
E. Haney, Lotfullah Hakim, A. Q. Faizi, Ruhiyyih Khanum, Jessie Revell, 'Ali
Nakhjavani, Ethel Revell, Mildred Mottahedeh, H. Borrah Kavelin, Jalal Khazeh.
An institution
created by Shoghi Effendi in 1951 as the forerunner of the Universal House of
Justice. It was invested with three functions: to forge links with the
authorities in the State of Israel, to assist Shoghi Effendi in the erection of
the superstructure of the Shrine of the Bab, and to conduct negotiations
related to matters of personal status with the civil authorities. To these were
added further functions as the Council developed. The members of the first
Council were appointed by Shoghi Effendi: its President was Charles Mason Remey
and its Vice-President Amelia Collins. The Council was enlarged to eight
members in 1952 and to nine in 1955. Following the passing of Shoghi Effendi
the Council continued to perform its duties at the World Centre under the
direction of the Hands of the Cause residing in the Holy Land. At Ridvan 1961
the Council was elected for the first time. Its nine members were elected by
the members of all the national and regional spiritual assemblies in the
Baha'iworld by postal ballot. The Hands of the Cause ruled that they themselves
were not eligible for election to this body. The following people were elected:
Jessie Revell, 'Ali Nakhjavani, Lutfu'llah Hakim, Ethel Revell, Charles
Wolcott, Sylvia Ioas, Mildred Mottahedeh, Ian Semple and H. Borrah Kavelin.
These members served until the election of the Universal House of Justice in
1963.
('Baha’i Dictionary' by Wendi Momen)
